RUN

Last updated : 13 October 2002 By Editor

From the People

The FA are bracing themselves for a bitter legal wrangle over the Roy Keane disrepute case.

The hearing will take place on Tuesday but Football Association lawyers are gearing up for a long, drawn-out battle.

I understand that football chiefs are determined to punish Keane, but his advisers are prepared to take the case to a higher authority if the Irishman is found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute.

Keane faces two charges - claiming that he deliberately set out to injure an opponent and then seeking to profit from the revelations.His lawyers will say that he merely gave an honest account of the incident and will point to a whole list of books by football people that have included controversial sections but have gone unpunished.

The FA's powers are virtually unlimited but the likely outcome is a heavy fine and a three-match ban.

Keane would contest both. If he is found guilty, there would be an instant appeal and a second hearing would not take place until towards the end of the year.

And the whole issue could drag on until the end of the season.